The general subject matter is methods and apparatus for use in physical therapy to alleviate pain, improve mobility, etc., for a human patient who suffers from a disease or injury treatable by physical therapy. Various physical therapy machines are known in the prior art. Specifically, the present invention is related to machines that apply electrical energy to the affected part of the body. It has been found that the application of electrical energy at particular amplitudes and frequencies can be a helpful physical therapy modality. It also appears that many of these treatment modalities apply electrical energy that oscillates at frequencies in the audio range, i.e., from about 20 Hz to about 20,000 Hz. In general, a physical therapy machine is set to provide particular electrical signals, an these are applied to the body through electrodes or xe2x80x9cpadsxe2x80x9d which are applied to the skin in various locations. Known physical therapy machines are bulky, expensive and require training and expertise to operate. For these reasons, their use is generally limited to the doctor""s office or physical therapy clinic.
The present invention does not provide new physical therapy modalities. Rather, it is directed to new ways to specify (prescribe) appropriate modalities for a patient, and new ways to deliver therapy, i.e. electrical energy to the patient""s body in accordance with the prescribed modalities. As illustrated in the enclosed drawings, the clinician has access to a computer (PC) of the type that are in common use today, including a CD ROM drive and a xe2x80x9csound card.xe2x80x9d Sound cards are known in the prior art for generating audio output, e.g., music, to internal or external speakers of headphones. According to one aspect of the present invention, the appropriate waveforms, amplitudes and frequencies, are specified in the personal computer and generated by the sound card in response to those specifications. However, rather than output these audio signals through speakers or headphones, the output from the sound card is directed through a novel xe2x80x9cinterfacexe2x80x9d via wires to electrode or pads which are applied to the patient""s body for deliver of a corresponding electrical stimuli. The interface contains suitable electronics for transmitting these signals to the electrodes, and for limiting the signals so as to prevent voltage or energy levels that would be unsafe.
Accordingly, one aspect of the invention is an apparatus for administering electrical physical therapy to a patient. The apparatus includes: a playback device for reading prerecorded information defining at least one electrical waveform and reproducing the waveform; an interface circuit for amplifying the resulting waveform so as to form one or more output signals; at least two electrodes for applying the output signal to the skin of the patient; and a lead for interconnecting each of the electrodes to the interface circuit to convey the corresponding output signal to a respective one of the electrodes. In one example, the playback device can be a computer with a CD-ROM drive, or a portable CD-ROM player. Solid-state or semiconductor memory can be used to record the therapy data as well. The prerecorded information can include two interferential audio frequency analog signals stored on a the machine-readable medium.
The inventive system can be used at home, or anywhere a personal computer can be found, as long as the patient has the appropriate interface and pads. Thus, for example, the treatment is designed and specified by the clinician, and recorded on a machine-readable medium such as a floppy disk, tape or CD. The patient takes the xe2x80x9cdigital prescriptionxe2x80x9d with him, along with the interface and leads, and by xe2x80x9cplayingxe2x80x9d the prescribed therapies through his own personal computer, can received prescribed physical therapy treatment as and where needed.
Another aspect of the invention thus can be described as a method of prescribing and delivering electrical physical therapy to the body of a patient, the method comprising the steps of:
selecting a physical therapy treatment modality in terms of one or more electrical waveforms having selected amplitudes and frequencies;
recording the said waveforms on a machine-readable recording medium;
delivering the recording medium to the patient;
reading the waveforms from the recording medium using an audio playback device to form audio frequency signals;
converting the audio frequency signals to physical therapy electrical signals; and
applying the physical therapy electrical signals to the body of the patient to deliver the selected physical therapy treatment modality to the patient.
These and other features and advantages are more fully described below with reference to the appended drawings.